Resolution Review: This isn’t your typical cabin in the woods story

Netflix Find: Resolution is a refreshingly new kind of scary thriller.

I thought Joss Whedon nailed it when he took the concept of the old horror trope of a cabin in the woods and created something new. But I had not yet seen Resolution, a little heard of horror film that I stumbled upon thanks to RottenTomatoes and Netflix.

In Resolution, Mike (Peter Cilella) is going to an old cabin in the woods on the edge of an Indian reservation in order to have a forceful intervention for his meth-addicted friend Chris (Vinny Curran). However, this attempt to save his friend’s life takes a startling turn when weird things start to show up around the house. And then weird things start to happen. In the end, the meth addiction is minor compared to what’s really going on out there.

Let’s start with the fine acting by the unknowns in this film. The first thing I thought of when I saw Cilella on-screen was Mark Ruffalo. There’s something calm and quiet about him, similar to Ruffalo’s style, and it works well in this story – he’s the guy who is going to save his friend, come hell or high water. When his friend begins throwing profane-laced threats at him, he lets it slide off his back. Cilella plays this perfectly.

Curran is even better. He brings a sort of Jason Lee meets Zach Galifianakas to the part of Chris, the meth addict who is just wanting his next hit. Instead, he gets handcuffed to the cabin he’s squatting in and has to poop and pee in a bucket. He is the funny guy who harbors an extreme sadness, which underlies the reason he needs the drugs. In conversations between the two characters, we see the true nature of addiction and depression. This has everything to do with these two actors’ great performances.

As this is a horror film, though, what about the scares? Well, this isn’t one of those cheap throw-stuff-at-you-in-3D kind of numbers. This is also (thank goodness) not a found footage film. It’s also not a blood-and-gore movie. What it lacks in all of the above, it makes up for in creepiness. Remember the first time you originally saw The Blair Witch Project? It’s kind of like that… all the way up to the ending. You don’t really know what’s going on, but it’s frightening. Even better, though? It’s 100% original. This plot is not one you’ve seen before.

The ending may get lost on some people, but for the true creep factor, Google some of the theories about it after you’ve watched it. It’s just that sort of thing that gets people to guessing as to what it really means. And don’t you just love that?

With Halloween right around the corner, I would say that this is a must-stream on Netflix. I only fail Netflix for failing to recommend this one to me on its own.